What is going on in our colleges?

THE Further Education Funding Council (FEFC) inspects colleges in England every four years in a continuous cycle. Day after day, excellent college lecturers teach, inspire and transform the lives of young people and adults. Many of industry's leaders have personal experience of it.

Unfortunately, according to the chief inspector's annual report, only 77% of students attended their classes. Perhaps the students were wrongly selected in the first place, or they figured that the teaching wasn't so hot after all. If they had been customers, we would be really worried about the business.

All hotel and catering colleges have been looked at in the first four-year cycle of inspections. The first year of the second cycle has now also been completed.

Four-year cycles

Teaching is awarded one of five grades. Grade 2 is defined as good, with strengths outweighing weaknesses - what most would consider satisfactory. The grades are summarised as: grade 1, good; grade 2, satisfactory or normal; grade 3, mediocre/poor; grade 4, unsatisfactory; and grade 5, fail.

The table below shows the first four-year cycle and compares the results with the first year of the second cycle. The teaching grades in the first four years have not improved. The curriculum grades' average for the first four years is significantly greater than the grades in 1997/8 as awarded by the inspectors - a negative trend.

It also shows for the first time the self-assessment by the colleges. The difference between what the inspectors find and what the colleges think is truly alarming. Who is right?

The inspectors add together grades 1 and 2 and state that 64% of the curriculum provision is good or outstanding, as is 66% of the teaching This puts a gloss on the results that makes them look better than the details show. Put the figures another way, one-third of the teaching and curriculum is poor or worse.

No norm of quality

The quality assessment is based on grades for the subjects and lessons, but there is no norm to measure against. If there had been a normal distribution of results, ie if 80% had been grade 2, there would have been a significant improvement. In fact, there has been a decline.

The FEFC has stated in previous reports that teaching staff lack recent industrial experience and do not always follow current industrial practices. The standards of hygiene and safety leave a lot to be desired. Fortunately, this appears to be at a minority of colleges. This year's report says much the same. Well, it is hardly surprising - ask any college head about funding.

In some colleges there is little opportunity for staff to upgrade their skills. Colleges have established top-heavy management structures absorbing huge resources and often leaving the teachers isolated. Many in industry would find the management style reminiscent of a bygone era.

There are notable exceptions. Some teachers welcome the inspections. Many know there is a need for change - they have told me so. There is considerable job insecurity and some senior staff have simply quit.

Only 5% of the total enrolments in the sector, which includes tourism and leisure, were for hotel and catering. Enrolments are down by 2% this year.

Poor punctuality, poor attendance and lack of basic skills in subjects such as use of computers add to the sad tale. Little is known of students' progression into employment, and there is wide variation in achievement of qualifications such as NVQs (54% to 64%) and drop-out rates (around 14%).

There are manpower problems in the industry but the colleges are losing training market share in an expanding market. Trade organisations are doing their own training with the support of Government, and that should tell the FEFC that a major rethink is overdue.

Call for more research

One reason that colleges succeeded in the past was that much research was carried out. Let's sort out the problems engulfing NVQs and GNVQs and get on with the education and training.

When I wrote some of the original research papers and helped pull the curriculum out of its periodic lurches into the latest academic craze, a comprehensive university research programme was set up. This review programme lasted for some years and an unprecedented boom in hospitality FE accompanied it. Similar advances were made in craft training. Surely it is possible to have a revival. n

David Hutchins is a former director of Grandmet, and former president of the HCIMA. He has managed large international organisations in various sectors of the industry.